Still Something Left
by SilverChrysanth
Summary: Because even if he was a monster, she would never give up on him.
1. Still Something Left

She glided through the hallway, feet never touching the ground in her slow movement forward, eyes set straight ahead in a determined line. She knew this was the correct place, knew he was here. All her searching had finally come to an end, and she was fast approaching the end now. She stopped just in front of the door, eyes calmly studying its make for any hindrance to her powers. There didn't appear to be any surrounding the control panel. So, they weren't worried about anyone breaking in, then. It was sloppy even if it meant less work for her, but they weren't completely at fault; who would _want_ to be there besides herself? And they wouldn't ever think she would willingly come here. She smiled ruefully. No, their precious "hero" would never do something so "wrong".

Pushing the thoughts aside, she set her feet on the ground, reached over and pressed a hand to the control pad, not even flinching as the surge of energy she poured into it caused the panel to spark. It popped with electricity, before the barrier finally sizzled away. She waited a few seconds to make sure it was completely deactivated before stepping up to the door and effortlessly phasing through.

Once she was through the other side, she scanned the room for its single occupant she knew would be there, finding him in a moment despite the dim lights. Her heart constricted painfully at the sight of him, her cousin, but not quite the cousin she remembered, kneeling on the ground at the back wall. He was shackled and chained and restricted in every way possible without breaking anything, although she was sure no one would have cared in the least if anything _was_ broken. There wasn't any power in the specially-built chains anymore, but he didn't even try to break them.

His head rose to look at her, the only movement he could apparently make, and the ready glare that was aimed in her direction quickly dissipated as he got a good look at her. His face morphed into surprise, and then horrified sadness.

"Dani?" The word was whispered slowly, as if he couldn't believe she was standing in front of him.

She wanted to assure him that she was real, and ignoring any monitoring devices that were probably all over the small, white room, she broke her expressionless mask to smile at him, although she couldn't make it very big. "Yeah, it's me. Dani, with an 'I'." Her old phrase tugged on her aching heart. She took a step forward, and when he didn't flinch away, she closed the distance between them and knelt in front of him to be at eye level, trying to be calm lest he become upset.

"I thought you were…" he started but was unable to finish the thought.

"I know," Dani said, unable to keep the sadness out of her smile. "And they told me you were gone, too…" she glanced away, not wanting to remember. The things they said, the time she spent working for them, their idealistic ways. "But as soon as I found evidence that you were actually alive, I started looking everywhere for you."

He frowned. "You shouldn't have."

Defiance briefly surged in her chest. "Because of your safety, or mine?"

He didn't answer.

Dani sighed. "It doesn't matter. I'm going to get you out of here." Even as she was talking, she was looking for the clasps, the locks and fastenings that bound her cousin to the floor.

"You can't," he replied. "They'll know, and they'll get you too."

"I'm fast," she said, pulling at a powerless fastening. "They won't."

"But they'll never stop hunting you," he tried again.

"I've been on the run before. It'll hardly be any different this time."

"I won't let you do this."

Dani broke the fastening and found another lock. "You don't have a choice."

He growled at her, causing her to instinctively jerk back. "I won't let you die because of me."

She paused to look into his eyes. They were frightened, and hopeless. He had given up, apparently, thinking that everything he'd cared about, everything he'd loved, was gone. If she hadn't been so far away then, if she had only been there to show him there was still something left, none of this would ever happen.

"No," she finally managed between painful memories. "I'm not going to leave you again." Finally succeeding in pulling the chains off of her cousin, Dani braced herself as he slumped over, wrapping her arms around him in as his muscles shook from being in the same position for too long. She had longed to find him, to hold him even if he proved the rumors true and killed her. But she didn't care about that. No matter what happened, she wouldn't give up on him, just like he had never given up on her, even if it was what seemed like a lifetime ago.

"You're all I have left," he choked, his bravado and strong façade cracking, allowing her to hold him up in probably the first real, warm contact he'd had since his… change.

"I know," she said. "Don't worry about me. I'm going take care of you. You'll see." She smiled again, hardly noticing as her eyes filled with tears. She'd found him, and now nothing would separate them ever again. And as she looked at her cousin, so different with his blue skin, red eyes, and flame-like hair, she told him as much. "I promise you…"

"…Dan."


	2. The Escape

_I'm basically updating this as I get ideas/motivation. Also, this is very AU, so any confusion can be attributed to that._

* * *

She stood absolutely still, blocking her cousin like a shield while glaring at the agent as if she could render him harmless with the sheer force of her will alone.

"Move," the agent commanded, his own glare directed at her.

"No," she said calmly.

"We don't want to fight you," he said, even as the soldiers around him tightened their grips on their blasters. "Stand down now, and we'll let you leave without retribution for your actions." His expression changed minutely. "Your deeds have allowed you that much."

She snorted. "My deeds are meaningless to me. All I care about is Phantom." She held back a smile at the agent's tightening expression, the deliberate use of her cousin's old heroic name causing the desired reaction.

"Phantom..." the agent ground out through clenched teeth, "no longer exists. That… that monster, is a _blight_ on our society. We cannot allow him to leave this facility."

Dani only straightened her shoulders. "He won't hurt anyone again."

"Not even you can guarantee that," the agent said, his patience visibly wearing thin. "I am giving you a final chance. _Stand down_."

Everyone became even more tense with those words. Dani could hear her cousin breathing behind her, the noise quiet but audible to her enhanced hearing. She could practically feel his muscles shivering, straining to hold himself up after she was forced to let go to protect him. She'd hoped to get him out without anyone knowing until she was long gone. After all, no one had said that she _couldn't_ free him—they'd just expected her not to. If she hadn't been discovered, she could break out and it wouldn't exactly be a direct violation, not officially. But actively and deliberately disobeying orders? Dani wasn't lying when she told her cousin she didn't care about being on the run, but the thought of running from _them_ was… less than ideal.

And, oh Clockwork, if they sent Plasmius after her… she might just have to go to the Zone after all to escape that madman; just the very thought of trying to fight him would make her legs quake.

Everyone was very still, the soldiers never moving as they waited for Dani's answer. The agent regarded her calmly, occasionally flickering icy glares at her cousin.

Dani finally dropped her intense expression, causing the group in front of her to relax fractionally. She swept her gaze over all of them, wondering what they were thinking. Did they wonder why she was trying to escape with a criminal, or were their thoughts disciplined enough to follow orders and stay in the here and now? It didn't really matter, but thinking they were more human than soldier usually helped her keep to her unstable path of morals, since her other anchors were no longer viable.

"Well?" The agent asked, growing impatient, drawing her attention back to him, in which Dani realized mere seconds had passed since his last statement.

"My decision was made as soon as I set foot inside this facility," Dani said with an air of finality.

"It was not yours to make," he said coldly, his growing anger starting to break through the surface. "There will be consequences for this, I promise to you."

Dani suddenly felt old and tired, as if she'd been in this world and she had been walking this path far longer than she had. Even so, she lifted her head higher, pushing back the feeling. "Very well. I then resign my commission, effective immediately."

The agent stared at her, completely taken back by her words. He opened his mouth, but when no words came out, he smartly closed it. Dani, however, expected the hand that shot up to give the order. Both of her arms flicked and an emerald barrier shimmered into existence a nanosecond before acidic blaster fire pelted it like raindrops. Wasting no more time, Dani spun around and slid her arms underneath her cousin's, simultaneously holding him up and turning them both invisible. The soldiers had technology to see them, but activating it would give them a precious few more seconds.

Dani didn't bother trying to go through the walls, knowing the concrete around them would have solid anti-ghost shielding, so she instead rose into the air and shot back in the direction of her cousin's cell, knowing the soldiers wouldn't expect it. She then built up just enough momentum before doing a flip and speeding towards the agent again, maneuvering above and around the soldiers just fast enough to avoid their bullets. Amidst the sound of the bullets ricocheting off the concrete, she thought she could hear a man's enraged cursing, but all it did was motivate her to go faster.

Only when she had gotten far enough and taken enough turns did she slow down, not wanting to hurt her cousin with the excessive speed. At every turn she expected to see more soldiers, and she only prayed they would reach the elevator without more resistance.

"Dani," her cousin spoke up.

"Yeah?" she only glanced at him, trying to keep both eyes on where she was flying.

"I'm not sure I'll make it."

"Don't," she said sharply. "I don't want to hear it. I didn't come all this way—and I'm not just talking about the security cells—for you to just decide to give up."

He fell silent then, and soon they reached the elevator. Dani carefully set him down inside, using her card to activate it before keeping him standing. The elevator shook a little as it ascended, and Dani frowned up at the ceiling, wondering just how much maintenance they kept up in the lower levels. She knew they didn't care—about the complex, the people working in it, and especially her cousin—but she couldn't even imagine how they could justify treating him like something other than human, despite what they said. She was convinced that part of him _was_ still human, even if it was a small part. What had happened to his human half was not his fault, and even though he had done things no one could excuse, she would protect him with every force of breath she had.

The elevator finally dinged, and once again they were off, flying through bigger and slightly cleaner halls. Dani knew they weren't shielded, so she went completely intangible and phased through the rest of the building. Occasionally she would pass through a room with staff, but she didn't care. The alarm would go off either way.

What Dani was really shooting for was the roof, and eventually, finally, they hit it. She took a moment to check for security before turning tangible again and lighting on the surface of the roof, allowing her cousin to really _breathe_ for the first time in a long time.

And breathe he did, visibly shaking now with suppressed emotion at seeing the full blue sky again. Dani wished it were night so they would be harder to spot and they could see the stars, but her cousin didn't seem to care either way. Happiness bubbled in her chest, and she allowed him to feel the calm breeze for a few more seconds, and then rose back into the air to fly off into the sky. When she was high enough, she took her keycard and her ID out of her pocket and dropped them both, knowing that she would never need them again. After all, she had the only person she had ever cared about.

And this time, she wouldn't let _anyone_ hurt him.

* * *

Beside his cousin, despite the wind practically pounding him in the face, Dan smiled. He had been incredibly suspicious at first when he first saw her, but just then, in the corridor with two dozen rifles aimed at them and a very ticked off man standing in front, Dan was convinced that she actually did come for him. That she actually did care. That she loved him.

A part of him didn't quite believe that they were free, but another part did—the part that he had, for so long, believed to be long dead.


	3. Simplicity

With a grunt, Dani stood up, admiring her work. It had only taken a few minutes, but as she looked around at the rest of it, she nodded in satisfaction. She liked gardening, she decided. It gave her something to do with her hands that didn't require a lot of thinking, and the vegetables and flowers looked pretty. She wiped the dirt off of her hands before she stretched comfortably.

It was a somewhat quiet morning, with a slight breeze rustling the leaves and shifting the sunlight filtering through them. Dani liked how calm everything was and how sweet the air smelled, and wondered if she would ever get used to it. It was a good morning to sit somewhere and read, but first, she thought it was time she checked on her cousin.

The old porch steps creaked as Dani climbed them, but she didn't worry about waking him. Even in sleep, he always seemed to know where she was, and nothing short of her voice or an explosion ever disturbed him. She sometimes wondered if it went deeper than simple trust, but it made it easier for both of them. His door was open a crack, and Dani pushed it open slowly.

Her ghost sense went off.

It wasn't an oddity around Dan to set off the icy puff of air, but the man standing in the middle of her cousin's room was decidedly _not_ her cousin. He was standing near Dan with some kind of needle, and somehow the ghost had managed to mask his presence to her until she got within a certain range.

"He sleeps rather soundly for a murderer," Plasmius mused.

In another time, Dani might screamed, or immediately attacked the psychotic man. Now she only said, "If that's strange, then none of us should sleep well."

Plasmius looked at her and gave her a half-grin. "Why, Danielle, you used to be so easy to provoke. It seems the years have matured you."

Seeing her cousin shuffle in his sleep out of the corner of her eye, Dani stepped back a little, never taking her eyes off of Plasmius. She didn't dare go into her ghost form, at least not yet, and risk Dan being woken from their combined ghostly aura. "We can talk better in the living room, if you wouldn't mind. He has trouble sleeping sometimes, and I don't want him to lose any if I can help it."

"If you wish," Plasmius said, and without another word put the needle somewhere in his uniform, surely a place where he could just as easily take it out again, before floating past her towards the living room. Dani carefully closed the door all the way before she followed. Plasmius didn't bother to sit, so neither did she.

"This is a quaint little cabin you've managed to procure here," he stated, looking around. "I trust it was through legal means."

Dani sighed, rubbing her eyes. She was not in the mood for small talk. "Can we just skip all this, please? What matters is if you're going to kill both of us, or just Phantom."

Plasmius raised an eyebrow. "Phantom? I was under the impression that he had forgone that old name. Furthermore, didn't you adopt it until you abruptly resigned?"

"He's still Phantom," Dani said, ignoring the last part, "whatever everyone thinks."

"What 'everyone' thinks is that he's an abomination with little, if any, feelings, and that he should be put down. Perhaps you aren't as mature as I believed, if you would be willing to take the chance that innocents will perish because of your misguided notions about the humanity of a ghost that no longer has any."

Dani clenched her fists to remain calm. "And what about us? Up until six months ago, I did whatever they told me to do—things no decent human could live with. I'd take the bet that you follow those same kind of orders, too."

"If necessary," Plasmius said, seemingly unfazed.

Dani looked away, her eyes drifting to an old picture of a lake that hung on the wall near her. Her cousin liked it, but she always forgot to ask him why. It was such a little thing, but now there was the chance she'd never be able to. "Look, Plasmius, I don't know about you, but I'm tired. Tired of taking orders, tired of talking, tired of fighting. I'm tired of being a Phantom. I've never asked anything of you, but now I'm asking you to leave. Go and tell them you finished your mission, and forget you never did. Just this once."

Plasmius stared at her for several seconds. "Or I could simply kill him and forcefully drag you back to base."

"Those are your orders?" she asked. At his nod, she replied, "I would rather die."

"Those are dangerous words."

"Not really. If you killed my cousin and tried to bring me back, I would burn that entire place to the ground."

"Even if you were inside?"

Dani didn't answer—didn't need to.

Plasmius frowned. "Even if I wanted to lie to them, Danielle, do you truly believe that I could?"

Dani shrugged. "Why not? You tricked an entire city, once." Her ears caught the sound of faint rustling from down the hall. Turning her head in that direction, she heard her cousin stirring. He was probably waking up. Oh, if he caught sight of Plasmius…

He rose into the air a few feet. "I would rather not risk that."

Despite being in her human form Dani matched his level, knowing she only had one last chance. He was tense, and her cousin would soon realize they weren't alone. She hated digging into old memories, and thinking about her life and the paths she'd chosen only made her heart ache, but she didn't have many options left.

"If you won't take that risk for me, at least do it for Danny."

Plasmius froze. She hadn't said nor heard that name in a long time, and was willing to bet he hadn't either. Memories flashed through her mind, but she bit her lip and held on, thinking of only her cousin and what she was willing to do to keep him safe.

"He saved your life, all those years ago. You even told him you were grateful."

Dan was moving in earnest now, and any moment he would know.

"That was a long time ago," Plasmius said, but his voice was unsteady.

"So was my cousin's rampage. _Please_."

His eyes bore into hers for several long seconds, but she held his stare, her lungs starting to burn from her holding her breath. The very air around them was still, all the world waiting for an answer.

"Dani?"

The world resumed, and she breathed. She looked behind her to see her cousin standing in the hallway. He looked groggy, but even though she expected him to glow in fury, he only gave her a confused look.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

Dani blinked, not expecting him to be calm. Looking back to where Plasmius floated, she was met with only empty air. It was like he hadn't even been present. How it must have looked to Dan, walking into the living room only to see Dani floating in the air in her human form and coveralls.

"Nothing," she said, lowering herself to the ground. "I just… thought I saw a bug."

Dan's expression changed to a teasing smirk.

"Don't even say it," she mock-warned before he could open his mouth. He only shook his head and strode to the front door, never having known that only minutes ago the man he hated the most had almost killed him. Her playful expression dropped as soon as Dan stepped out onto the porch out of sight, and she looked around for any sign of the old ghost. He seemed gone.

She didn't trust it. He wouldn't just _go_ , without his mission complete or even the last word. That just wasn't him—either half of him. But, maybe…

"Dani, do you want to go for a walk? It's nice today," her cousin called from outside.

"Sure," she called back. She looked around one more time before reluctantly moving towards the door. When they came back she would try and scan the entire acre for—

 _Clink_. Her foot knocked into something, and she leaned down to pick it up, wondering if her cousin had left one of his tools laying around. But her eyes widened when she realized that it was the needle Plasmius had. Dani stared at it for several seconds. Outside, a bird chirped, and the breeze rustled the window curtains. It was a clear message, telling her everything that Vlad never would.

Dani carefully set the needle down on the coffee table. She could clean it up later, but right then, she had more important things to do.


	4. What Remains

_I thought it hadn't been that long since my last update. Ah well._

* * *

There was pain, and there was fire, but no memory of how either began.

It blazed green and red, pockets of inferno rising all around her, burning the earth and whatever grew from it. Dani crawled backwards, staring wide-eyed as she stumbled into awareness from whatever sleep she'd been forced from. Instincts came before anything else, and she brought up a hand, imagining the ice crystals a second before she anticipated them. Instead, she only felt more pain, waves crashing through her whole frame. Her head hurt most of all, but pressing against the back of her skull did nothing but coat her fingers in blood. She stared at it, at the red and green colors, so perfectly matching the fire. With it came the realization that she was alone.

"Dan!" she called. Seconds passed, and only the sound of burning answered her. She called again, but there was nothing.

She stood up, stumbling at the nausea that blossomed in her stomach. She was outside, a small intrusive thought telling her it was opposite her garden. She placed her hand on the wall and once again tried to use her powers, but not even her weakest abilities would respond to her, intangibility or otherwise. She would have to get in another way.

Dani moved along the wall, avoiding the flames and occasionally calling out for her cousin. The nearest window was choked in a green blaze, and she ducked to avoid it, rounding the corner. As she came within sight of the door, a tree above her creaked. She looked up, and something flashed in her mind.

 _She was walking through the woods, enjoying the sunshine and birdsong._

She blinked, ignoring the tree and the image. The door was close now, and somehow the fire hadn't reached it yet.

 _She was by herself, her cousin inside the cabin. Sometimes they both just needed time alone. Sometimes to remember, and sometimes to forget._

She reached the door, but it wouldn't open. She called for her cousin again, praying he wasn't on the other side, before kicking against it with her foot. It moved an inch, and she repeated the action. At least her enhanced strength was somewhat intact.

 _She paused, the path diverging ahead of her. The right led to a drop-off that overlooked the valley with a sort of viewing platform they built on top of it. The left path led to a long stream, her sensitive hearing picking up on the trickling, bubbling water. She decided on the left path._

Dani finally managed to kick the door in. A vacuum opened up, sucking out a room's worth of smoke in a rush, filling her lungs and making her choke. She nearly doubled over, her entire body racking with coughs. Her head pounded, and it was all she could do not to panic. She forced herself to breathe normally, straining her eyes trying to look inside the building, hoping her cousin was in sight. With her powers, she would have been in and out already or known where he was. But wishing was futile, and she had never been one for uselessness. Covering her mouth and nose with her sleeve, she ducked to the floor and pushed inside, her muffled calls still going unanswered.

 _She didn't know how long she sat by the water, watching the foam and the occasional fish swim by. It was comforting to think of nothing and simply watch the endless motion. The water never got tired, and it never ended, always flowing since the beginning of its time to when Time would tell it to stop; if left on its own, it would fill out into a lake a few miles away. She didn't go there often, but it was pretty._

The smoke stung Dani's eyes, and she could barely see anything.

 _A noise drew her attention from the stream, blinking her eyes back into focus, something that was familiar and all at once foreign. The sky shone through the trees in patches, blocking the source of the sound. Standing, she debated climbing a tree, looking around for one with a lot of thick branches. Yet something tugged at her, an urgent whisper that she shouldn't waste time. Following the feeling she couldn't describe, she forgot about the climb and instead floated into the air, rising until she hovered just above the canopy, the same voice telling her to stay hidden. There, in the distance. It was a black smudge, and might have just been a bird or dark cloud. The urgency grew louder, and the noise became suddenly unmistakable. Her heart stopped._

Dani blinked away the tears caused by the smoke and perhaps something else, but she couldn't think of anything other than her cousin. She was in the kitchen now, searching everywhere along the flames. It was so small, but now it seemed as big as one of Vlad's mansions, impossibly huge and easy to become lost in. Dan wasn't in sight, and her throat was sore from the scorched air and her screams.

 _Back. She had to get back._

The living room. He must have been in the living room. She just knew that whatever the situation, he wouldn't have been anywhere else.

 _She didn't even bother dropping to the ground as she sped back in the direction of the cabin. Trying to be inconspicuous wasn't a concern anymore._

A board groaned above her, and she gasped as it crashed to the floor where she had crouched seconds ago. The fire must have been getting to her, and spots danced in her vision not caused by the smoke.

 _She was almost there, now. Just a few hundred feet._

She was so close to the living room. Just a few feet.

 _She could feel her cousin's presence inside, calm and completely unaware of what lay ahead of them by mere minutes._

Now she could finally feel her cousin's presence, pulsing erratically but weakly. It spurred her faster, further.

" _You have to go." Fear shook her voice._

 _He didn't understand, and he didn't move. "Not without you."_

A flaming board was in her way. But while most of the flames inside the cabin were red, this was green. Careful to avoid hurting herself, Dani pushed it out of the way. And there, behind it and lying on his back, was her cousin.

"Dan!" she said, forgetting to keep her face covered as she closed the distance between them. He was still breathing, an old human habit he hadn't ever tried—or ever wanted—to break. She lifted his upper body into her arms, trying to shield him from the flames. It was a parallel to his actions minutes—or was it hours—before.

 _She wanted to curse, but she knew it wouldn't make him budge. He only stood there, glaring at her fiercely with his arms crossed, an echo of his old stubborn personality shining through. He would never leave her behind. He never had before._

 _But they were so close. She could hear the chopper's blades by then. It didn't matter why or how, but this was the inevitable conclusion, the looming fate that Time had been chasing after. They could put it off another day, week, month, or even year, but it would have to come._

Her cousin looked at her, his cloudy eyes lighting a little in recognition, his mouth turning up in a smile.

"Danny," she said, her voice little more than a crack.

His smile widened at his old name. "What are you doing back here?"

"I couldn't leave you behind."

"You'll never learn," he said.

His words didn't distract her from the fact that he was badly hurt. Not only that, but he was dying. She couldn't stop the tears this time, her body starting to shake. "I'll get you help. Even if I have to go back, I'll get you help."

He shook his head slowly. "No, Dani. No. Not this time. You'll be okay. That's all I ever wanted: for you to be okay."

She squeezed her eyes shut, denying everything in front of her. He _couldn't_ be dying. He couldn't.

 _Everything was blurry. All she could see was smoke and fire, red and green, contrasting colors to match the contrasting emotions in the room. The soldiers were everywhere, occupying both Phantoms' attention and making a mess of their home. Everything they had done, all the work they'd put in was ruined in just a few minutes of fighting._

 _Dani backed up against a wall, her emerald shields cracking under the onslaught of bullets from too many guns, trying and failing to keep her emotions in check. It wasn't supposed to be this way! They were safe, and it was supposed to be over. Why did everything always go wrong?_

 _A flash of green exploded in her peripheral vision, and she looked just in time to see her cousin sailing through the air towards her, his fire right behind him. She had no time to do anything before he flew right into her, knocking them to the ground. They both stood up, only to watch as Dani's damaged shields sputtered and went down for good. The bullets paused in the zero visibility caused by the lack of glowing ectoplasm, but it would only last a moment._

 _And in that moment, Dan turned to her, looking at her with a strange expression. She looked back, wondering what he was thinking, what he was planning. Before she could figure it out, he moved closer and took her into his arms with a gentleness he hadn't had in years._

 _She only squirmed for a moment before he whispered in her ear. "Thank you for everything you've done. I'll always love you, Dani with an 'I'." And with her still in his arms, he lifted her and threw her away from their impending doom straight at the wall just as the bullets resumed, a green sideways-rain consuming his whole body._

 _Dani couldn't do anything as she went through walls that never seemed to end, barely remembering to go intangible, until finally the red blaze and white-hot wood was replaced with dark green and sunshine. Her head landed before her body, and everything went black._

"I love you too," she whispered, memories chasing her tears faster down her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. This never should have happened. You're paying for my mistakes."

Confusion further clouded Dan's murky eyes. "What do you mean?"

"You're like this because of me," she explained. "It was after Vlad..." memories played through her head, too worn to regret and too deep to erase; her cousin's two halves, the shackles binding her limbs, and the last ditch effort to save a clone from a madman that resulted in the original's almost-demise. "After the incident, I woke up surrounded by soldiers. I thought you were dead, so I joined them. I realized I fell into another timeline, because Plasmius was with them. It was years later that I found you." The tip was anonymous, pointing to an old 'haunted' warehouse. The irony.

Dan sighed, looking away, looking tired. "I've seen some pretty strange things in my half-life, so I guess I never expected anything different." His eyes closed, and his chest stilled, the old habit dying with the rest of him.

The fire still burned, but she didn't notice anymore. Her head dropped to his chest, sobs wracking her body and drowning out the roaring flames and the thoughts of encroaching soldiers.

A puff of cold escaped Dani's throat. She stilled, her sobs cut off, knowing the presence but for once not dreading it. She lifted her head, eyes roving until they landed on her old enemy floating a few feet away, careless of the flames and face unreadable. Although maybe it was her blurry vision that made it seem that way.

"I had no idea," he said. "I flew as fast as physics would allow."

"It's too late, so why bother?" Dani replied, voice scratchy from tears and smoke.

"Because I never wanted this either."

Had he heard the conversation? She supposed she should be mad or say something nasty, but she couldn't bring herself to muster the energy. She could only stare at her cousin blankly. "Well, whatever you're going to do, I won't stop you. You've taken all the fight out of me, Plasmius."

"No, Danielle, I really haven't."

She looked at him, wondering what semblance of an excuse he could possibly come up with.

The only explanation he gave was to reach for his neck with one hand, pulling down the collar. Underneath was a metal band, reflecting the green and red inferno around them. The skin above and below it was rubbed raw, and the red light, brighter than the flames, blinked ominously. For once, Dani understood what he was saying. Funny what it took.

Dani looked away, at nothing and everything. "What a fate we three have had," she said, smiling for no reason at all.


	5. Hard Times Come Again No More

Dani supposed she should be worried, and alert for any more soldiers, but her floating companion didn't seem concerned, so she didn't think it mattered anymore.

"Why do this?" she asked.

"You don't belong in this world," Plasmius said. "I've known that from the beginning." And without another word he was gone, the puff of pink smoke he left so unlike the black cloud permeating the room.

Dani frowned, wondering at his motives. She'd always known she didn't belong, but she wasn't surprised he had discovered it. However, his words struck an idea in her head, and silently she pushed herself to her feet, walking in the direction of her bedroom. She still couldn't use her powers, so even though it was relatively clear, it took her a long time to move down the length of the hallway.

When she was inside her room, she went straight for her nightstand, pulling out the drawer and reaching a hand in. She felt around the very back, ignoring the picture of her and her cousin sitting on the nightstand's surface. When Dani found what she was looking for, she waited a few seconds, thinking about what she was about to do and if it would even work, before she squeezed her eyes shut so she wouldn't have to see the Time Medallion as she clasped it around her neck.

Time sped up, slowed down, went forwards, went backwards, before swirling around to a complete stop around Dani. It made her dizzy, and when she could see again, a young ghost was floating in front of her.

"Hello, Clockwork," she greeted him, somehow remembering her manners.

"Danielle," he greeted back. "Much of your time has passed since we last spoke."

"Yes," she agreed. She studied him as he shifted forms, wondering if he had changed even as Time went on without him, something seemingly impossible. "I didn't want your help."

"But now you do," he guessed, or knew, or both.

"I want to fix things," she said. "I want to fix my mistakes."

He cocked his elderly head to the side. "Are you so certain that they're mistakes, and that they belong to you?"

Dani didn't answer. She was tired of riddles and games, and maybe if she stayed silent he would finally take the hint. It seemed to be effective, because he sighed.

"The ghost in your living room is merely a shell—an empty husk of something that died a long time ago."

"I understand that now. But it was after what happened."

"It's not a simple thing you ask of me. There has to be a price paid."

"I'm willing to pay it."

"Are you certain?"

"Completely." And she was. Anything for her cousin—for Danny.

Clockwork looked at her a few seconds, trying to gauge her sincerity, before slowly nodding his middle-aged head. Dani half expected him to wave his scepter or speak some kind of phrase, but all that happened was one moment, she was looking at him, and the next everything changed. The fire dimmed, the smoke cleared, and everything grew dark. The only remaining light was from a large hole in the wall, maybe a stray attack or a particularly viscous patch of flames, and through it she could see green and a few colors.

It was her garden. She didn't mind that it was the last thing she saw before the darkness.

* * *

Danny stretched comfortably, waiting in the morning sunshine on the street corner. When he was finished, he pulled out his phone to check the time, wondering how long it would take for his friends to get there, and who would be first.

He didn't have to wait long, because a minute later Tucker was running in his direction on the other side of the road with Sam was a ways behind him. He grinned at them, his mood uncommonly high so early in the morning.

"Hey, guys," he said.

"Hi Danny," both his friends said in unison.

"Got your papers all ready?" he asked as they began the short walk to school.

"Yeah, actually," Tucker said. "Since there were no ghosts last night, I actually had time."

"And I had some extra time to study for the math test," Sam chimed in.

"Me too," Danny said. "It's kind of weird, but I'm not really complaining. Hopefully this happens again, 'cause I haven't got my stuff done on time in ages."

"I sat so long, I felt like I didn't move for days," Sam said.

"Me too," Tucker agreed.

They came to a traffic light, and were just about to cross it when Danny stopped. Across the street in the corner of his eye was a tall woman with dark hair. His friends were still walking, but he turned to look, only to find no one there. He frowned, wondering if it was a ghost.

"Danny?" Sam said, "you coming?"

"Oh yeah," he said, jogging to catch up to his friends before the traffic signal changed again. The woman had looked familiar to him, but he didn't think he knew her.

Actually, she reminded him of a certain blue-eyed girl two years younger than he was. He made a mental note to call her later, wondering what she was up to and if she'd ever actually bother to visit. He glanced at the spot again just in case before shrugging and moving on, forgetting all about the woman who seemed to be floating.

* * *

 _My last one-shot ended on a sad note, so I didn't want this to be the same way. But this is definitely the end of this little collection. I may make another story out of this, but I don't know._


End file.
